Raipur: At least 16 Maoists were killed in an encounter with security forces in the Sukma district of Chhattisgarh on Saturday. Two security forces personnel suffered minor injuries and have been shifted to hospital, an official said.
The encounter comes less than 10 days after 30 Naxalites were killed by security forces in Bijapur and Kanker on March 20. A security forces personnel also lost his life in that encounter.
Three more Maoists were killed along the Bijapur-Dantewada border on Tuesday. One of those killed in that encounter was later identified as Sudhir alias Sudhakar alias Murali, a member of the dreaded Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee. He was carrying a Rs 25 lakh reward on his head.
According to authorities, a gunfight broke out early in the morning on Saturday in a forest under the Kerlapal police station area, where a joint team of security personnel was out on an anti-Maoist operation.
The security forces personnel were from the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). They were part of an operation launched on Friday night, based on inputs about the presence of Maoists in the Kerlapal area.
“Bodies of 16 Naxalites have been recovered from the encounter site so far. Weapons and explosives have also been seized. The operation is still underway,” an official said.
More than 100 Naxalites have been killed by security forces in Chhattisgarh in less than three months in 2025. In 2024, nearly 240 Maoists were eliminated in the state. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has declared that Left Wing Extremism will be rooted out from the country by the end of March 2026.
